


A Different Type of Love

by swanwithwifi (orphan_account)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Merlance, Nyssara, Theroy, olicity - Freeform, olicity au, thearoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-03-20 15:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3655941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/swanwithwifi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak are the last two people Tommy Merlyn wants to date. His best friend and his sister. He's spent years trying to make sure they don't meet. But one night at a masked party, the two unknowingly fall for each other while acting out one of the most romantic scenes ever written.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Balcony

**Author's Note:**

> Also updated on my tumblr: swanwithwifi.tumblr.com

Felicity Smoak isn’t a “party girl”. Yes, she enjoys her classic college party once in a blue moon, but she’s never identified herself as somebody who loves parties. Tommy Merlyn, however, his a party boy in every aspect of the phrase. And Tommy might be the one person who can convince Felicity to do something, due to his long, long history as the teasing older brother.

“Tommy I’m not going to the party! That’s final!” Felicity hated using her loud voice. But Tommy was usually the exception.

“Fliss you can’t stay inside all day. You’ve got to get out once in a while.”

“I go outside! I walk. And do...things. Outside of the apartment. And besides, it’s not mandatory that I have to go out. And especially if Oliver’s going to be there.” Felicity had never actually met Oliver Queen, Tommy’s infamous best friend. She had just moved to Starling recently, and was anxious to see more of Tommy. Their parents got divorced when Felicity was 6 and Tommy was 10, and the two rarely got to see each other throughout their adolescence.

Oliver and Tommy were known as the two playboys of Starling City, constantly in Verdant picking up girls and getting drunk. Needless to say, Felicity didn’t approve of Tommy’s activities with Oliver, but since Oliver had dragged Tommy into the player life in the beginning, she already had strong opinions of him.

“Well...yes, Oliver will be there. It’s kinda his house. But I have given him strict warning to stay away from you. That guy could charm the pants of a-”

“OK, all I needed to know. Not going.”

“Felicity I haven’t seen you in a really long time and this would be the perfect chance to spend time together, and if you really loved me you would do this for me.” Tommy’s eyes widened as he told her this, and Felicity’s eyes instinctively scrunched up.

“Fine! Fine! If that’s what you want!”

\-----Later that Night-----

Felicity twisted side to side in front of the mirror, evaluating her wardrobe choices. Her hair was down in curls, a style she rarely chose, and she was wearing a white bandage dress that was a bit short, but not outrageously so. The dress shimmered in almost an angelic way when it caught the light.

“Not too bad Smoak, not too bad,” Felicity murmured to herself.

Tommy knocked and poked his head into the room. “Looking good! You ready to go?”

“Yep,” Felicity replied. “One sec.”

Felicity fastened a necklace around her neck. The charm was of a pair of silver angel wings. She then picked up a mask with feathers and silver around the tips.

\-----Even Later that Night-----

After about a few hours of sweaty bodies and alcohol all in one castle of a house, Felicity was done. She made her way to a pair of french doors leading out to a balcony. She stepped outside, and inhaled the cool night air. Felicity stepped forward and rested on the edge of the balcony. A rustle from the bushes below cause her to jolt up and try to see what was going on.

“But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks!” An attractive man (or at least what she could see in the dark) stepped into her view. Why he was quoting Shakespeare, Felicity had no idea.

“It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!” The man stumbled a little, obviously drunk. Felicity had come across many drunk men in her lifetime, but none of them had quoted Shakespeare before.

The man stepped into the light. He had sandy hair, and was wearing a leather jacket with silver studs. He had on a black leather mask, which contrasted with a pair of ice blue eyes looking up at her.

He continued his monologue, occasionally stumbling on words in his drunken stupor. When he reached the end, he looked up at felicity, expectantly.

Felicity was in a bit of shock. This was not normal party behaviour. But she decided to play along. She had played Juliet in a very much regretted production of Romeo and Juliet at MIT, and the lines came back to her.

“Ay me!”

“Oh speak again, bright angel!”

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, but be sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet. Tis but thy name that is my enemy; thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Felicity continued her speech, pausing a few times to try and remember the words.

They continued the famous scene, stuttering or fumbling at times, but it was none the less romantic. "By a name," the man called out. "I know not how to tell thee who I am; my name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, because it is an enemy to thee; had I it written, I would tear the word."

They continued, each word becoming more and more sincere. The man started inching closer to the balcony, and Felicity started leaning over more.  
"Lady," the man continued, "by yonder blessed moon I swear that tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops."

"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable."

"What shall I swear by?"

"Do not swear at all; or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry, and I'll believe thee."

"If my heart's dear love--"

"Well, do not swear: although I joy in thee, I have no joy of this contract to-night: it is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden; too like the lightning, which doth cease to be ere one can say 'It lightens.' Sweet, good night! This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower when next we meet. Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest come to thy heart as that within my breast!"

"O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?"

"What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?"

The man started to climb the trellis, almost falling a few times. Felicity gasped and threw her hands over, desperate to catch him. After a few unsuccessful times, he blushed and decided to stay on the ground.

"The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine."

"I gave thee min before thou didst request it: and yet I would it were to give again."

"Wouldst thou withdraw it? For what purpose, love?"

"But to be frank, and give it thee again. An yet I wish but for the thing I have: my bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite."

As if on queue, Felicity heard Tommy's voice call from inside. "Fliss? Fliss we should leave. I haven't seen Oliver all night."

Felicity giggled and she heard a throaty chuckle from below.

"O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard. Being in night, all this but a dream, too flattering-sweet to be substantial."

Even though it was in no way in the scene, Felicity decided to do a bit of improvisation. The whole ordeal made her feel quite flirtatious.

"Wait! Sweet love, doth thou leave without my kiss?"

"To be without thy kiss is to be without light."

The man walked over to the trellis again, and persistently scaled it. Once he reached the top, Felicity saw that he was extremely attractive, his blue eyes looking into hers with such intensity.

She leaned her head down just as he tilted his up, and their lips gently met, brushing together lightly. Felicity felt herself leaning more into the kiss, their lips gliding over each other. They pulled away slowly, their warm breath mingling, their lips barely touching,

"Felicity! Where are you? We really have to go." Tommy's voice surprised the both of them, and surprised the mystery Romeo so much that he fell off the ladder, landing on the ground with a thud. A slew of curse words followed.

Felicity shrieked, leaning over the balcony. "Are you ok?" she asked, finally breaking character.

"So thrive my soul."

"A thousand times goodnight!"

\-----After the Party at the Queen Mansion-----

A masked man strolled into the living room, now a bit of a mess, and took off his black mask revealing the handsome face of Oliver Queen.

"How was your night?" Thea Queen, his sister, asked from the sofa. "Hangover?"

"Not as bad as usual. My night was...pretty different. I acted out an entire scene from Romeo and Juliet with a masked girl."

"Romantic. Never knew you were into Shakespeare."

"Romeo and Juliet was the only play I liked. Apart from Othello."

"Of course you would like Othello."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"Nothing. It's a bit of a guy play. Though I didn't think you would like Romeo and Juliet."

"I loved the themes. Feuds, forbidden love, heartbreak, almost. I guess "almost" is the one word to describe that play."

"You putter on with your feminine thoughts. I'm gonna go up to bed. Don't expect me to be up before noon."

"Wouldn't count on it."

Oliver followed Thea out of the room, his thoughts still lingering on the beautiful masked girl.


	2. Behind The Masks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all start to figure it out...

Felicity walked up to Tommy's door with a bag of pastries and a couple of coffees. As she was about to knock on the door, she heard voices from inside.

"The whole thing?"

"The whole thing."

As she realized she was unable to knock due to the immense bag of croissants balancing on her arm, she decided to yell for Tommy and risk waking up the building. Tommy's apartment was so big, nobody within a 1 mile range would hear her.

"TOMMY! GET THE DOOR!"

"Comming Fliss!"

Tommy opened the door, sliding through it so Felicity couldn't see in, and whoever was in the apartment couldn't see out.

"Fliss, this isn't really a good time...you look pretty chipper," Tommy added when he saw her smile.

Ignoring his comment, Felicity turned straight into sister mode. "Thomas Merlyn have you got a girl in there?"

"No, no, just...Oliver. And you two meeting probably wouldn't be a good idea since you kinda hate him, and you're pretty."

"I'm pretty? What does that have anything to do with- oh."

"Yup."

"Tommy I need to put these coffees down and I would  _like_ to talk to you. I promise I will not fall for Oliver Queen."

"You're not the problem," Tommy mumbled.

"Tommy..."

"Fine, fine. Just play nice."

The minute Felicity walked into the room, she knew she was in trouble. She had seen Oliver on magazines before, due to the fact that he was Starling's Resident Playboy, but she had never seen him in person.

Maybe that was for the best.

Oliver Queen was pretty gorgeous. Blonde hair, piercing blue eyes that looked oddly familiar, a jawline that could cut rock, and muscles, so many muscles...

"Felicity Smoak? Hi, nice to meet you." Oliver's words cut her out of her daze.

"Nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you. From Tommy. Well not just from Tommy, but, you know, tabloids. Not that the tabloids told me, just that you're pretty popular on them, because they like talking about all your playboy-ness which is technically what I'm doing right now. Which will end. In 3, 2, 1." Felicity's babbling was, in her opinion, her most annoying trait. And it had made situations that would be normal into incredibly embarrassing situations. Like this one.

Oddly enough, Oliver apparently didn't find her annoying. In fact, he  _laughed._ In a really attractive way.

Their eyes locked, and Felicity, as much as she was trying, couldn't look away.

Tommy was eager to break the tension. "Oliver was just telling me about this funny thing that happened last night. Fliss, you're a Shakespeare nut, you're gonna like this. So Oliver was drunk, as per usual, and he saw this girl go out on the balcony, and all of a sudden, he starts spouting Romeo and Juliet! Off the top of his head! And she started saying it back..."

At this point, Felicity was no longer listening. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and a blush was starting to spread, her eyes locked with Oliver's again, like a deer in the headlights, and at that point, she realized that they both knew everything. Oliver Queen, was her mystery Romeo. She was his Juliet. Oliver let out a groan, and started shaking his head, whispering "no no no no no" under his breath.

Tommy eventually realized that they weren't listening. "You guys ok?"

Felicity looked up quickly. "Me? Yeah. I'm fine. Just fine. I'm better than fine. Peachy. I'm peachy. Not that I'm a peach, I mean that's actually a stupid adjective, how can anybody be a fruit. Nobody's a fruit. I'm not a fruit."

Both men started at her in silence, until Tommy shot her a look. "You sure you're fine, Smoak?" Shit. Tommy always knew when she was stressed. Her blush started to return.

"Yeah. I should just...go. I'm going to go. Enjoy your coffee. And pastries. And...stuff. Bye."

Felicity walked out of that apartment as fast as she could. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she leaned on the wall for support.

_Out of all the men. ALL THE MEN IN STARLING CITY. She had to reenact the most romantic scene **ever** with the one person she could never date. The one person she  **would** never date. This is not going to be pretty._


	3. Chapter 3

Oliver Queen has been in love before. He was in a long term relationship with Laurel Lance, Tommy's new target for his affection, but it didn't really turn out well. I guess you could call it longterm if it involved cheating on her numerous times. And with her sister, Sara Lance. Sara's now in a relationship with Nyssa Al Ghul, and the two are off "traveling the world, trying to find themselves".

Oliver's relationship with Laurel was real, he did love her, but he never really was  _in_ love with her. He never really fell hard.

This is why he was confused, when a certain kiss with a girl he had only just met made him feel like nothing he's ever felt before.

When he kissed her, he didn't even know her name. But what he had felt for Felicity in that moment was more real than anything he had ever had with Laurel. Like in pictures, and the world goes out of focus except for that one thing. He could have stayed like that for hours. Except for Tommy.

 _Tommy._ Tommy is the roadblock in all of this. And the fact that Felicity probably wouldn't date Oliver anyways, from what Tommy had told him. Tommy had told Oliver multiple times how "Felicity is strictly off limits. You will never ever make a play at her. If you do, I will fight you." And Oliver had gone off and kissed her. And he  _liked_ it.

After turning the situation over in his head, Oliver decided to completely deny the entire thing happened. He would probably see Felicity a lot more now that Tommy had introduced them. And avoid Felicity as much as possible, lest the feelings he had during the kiss returned.

But fate was not on his side.

Oliver goes to the same coffee shop every morning since forever. The baristas know his name. And the one coffee shop in all of Starling City happens to be the one Felicity Smoak walked into one rainy Saturday morning.

"Felicity Smoak." Felicity twirled around at her name, golden ponytail flying.

"Oliver! I didn't know you came here." Felicity's eyes were as wide as moons. She started edging towards the door, to Oliver's disappointment. They can still be friends, right?

"I come here everyday. Do you want me to buy you a coffee?"

"No no it's fine. I can buy my own. And so can you. Well, you are a billionare." Felicity's hand flew to her mouth as she realized what she said. "I mean-"

"It's fine. Happens all the time."

Felicity felt a blush spreading over her face. Why  _why_ did she have to choose this coffee shop? Are they going to talk about that night?

As if reading her thoughts, Oliver continued. "Uh there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about. About the other night."

 _No._   _You said you wouldn't talk about it, and then all out of the blue, you TALK ABOUT IT._

Felicity tensed. She had definitely hoped to stay away from this topic. In fact, just to stay away from Oliver in general. "What's there to talk about? We just kissed and nothing more. It's forgotten." Just a kiss. Biggest lie she had ever told. She couldn't stop thinking about it.

To say Oliver wasn't hurt was not true. In fact, he felt a pain to the right of his heart. "Then it's gone. Forgotten." He knew Felicity didn't really like him, so this was somewhat expected. But it still hurt.

Felicity gave him a small smile. "I'd best be going then."

"Without your drink?"

"I don't really need a drink. Now. I'll need a drink at one point but not now. Of course I need to drink, but not at this particular moment. I should go."

Oliver let out a laugh at her adorable babbling. "Bye Felicity."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SO sorry I haven't been able to update! Exams happened (ick), along with the rest of life. And my computer crashed. I hope you like this new chapter!

"Ollie, you OK?"

Oliver turned around at his sister's voice. Thea was sprawled across the chaise lounge, a fashion magazine in her lap.

He pursed his lips, turning back to the wall to hide his facial expression. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The truth was, he was feeling nauseous ever since his ill-fated meeting with Felicity.

Thea raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because you look kind of..." she circled a hand around her face, "pale."

"I'm actually going to go on a walk."

"You never go on walks..."

"It looks nice outside."

Rain poured down on the window.

Thea let out a chuckle. "Sure, Ollie. But something's up."

\---------------

Felicity opened up her umbrella, desperate to get out of Tommy's apartment. Tommy had been on the phone with their dad for about an hour, and the yelling echoed around the flat.

The light sprinkle in the morning had turned into a downpour, but nothing can stop Felicity Smoak when she was an an awkward situation.

Little did she know, another one was about to come her way. Quite literally.

\---------------

Oliver Queen knew he should have ducked into an alleyway to fiddle with his umbrella, but he was in too much of an "air of emotion and drama", as Thea likes to call it. He kept on barging through. Until his umbrella almost poked Felicity Smoak's eye out.

"Oh  _frack_!" _  
_

Oliver immediately dropped his air, and fled to his victim's side.

"Felicity?"

The minute Felicity heard Oliver's voice, she spun around, eyes wide.

"Oliver! What are you doing? Ow!" Felicity clutched her eye.

"Oh god. Here, let's go into Tommy's apartment. There'll be ice." Oliver ushered her into the building, his hand lingering on the small of her back for a few seconds too long.

\-------------

Seeing Felicity clutching a slightly swollen eye and a soaking wet Oliver in Tommy's doorway would probably be the last thing Tommy Merlyn would expect to see.

Yet here he was, staring at that exact picture.

"Tommy." Oliver's sharp voice cut him out of his haze. "Felicity's...hurt."

"Fliss! What the hell happened?"

"Oliver poked me in the eye."

Tommy let out a bark of laughter.

"Tommy! It's not funny!"

He quickly stifled it, but the corners of his mouth still jerked upwards. "Of course not. Oliver, how could you do such a thing?"

Tommy stopped sniggering when Felicity hit him on the head with an umbrella.

\-------------

"What were you talking about with Dad?"

Tommy put down his beer. Loudly.

"Nothing, Fliss."

"Didn't sound like nothing."

Tommy turned to face his sister. "Don't worry. We've got it under control. Ish."

"Merlyn, I can help."

"Smoak, I know you can. But trust me, this is one thing you don't want hanging over your head."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME. I realize that I haven't updated in A MILLION YEARS. I AM SO SORRY. I'M JUST GOING TO KEEP ON REPEATING THIS.

"Felicity, we need to talk."

 

Felicity peered over the top of her newspaper at Tommy. She then returned her gaze back down to the article about the Starling City Tech Expedition she was reading. "No, we really really don't. Because this is probably about Dad. You've got your whole," she waved a hand at his face, " 'Dad's being a giant dick' face."

 

"I mean you're not wrong."

 

"Then I don't want to talk about it."

 

They were silent for a minute. Possibly the longest they hadn't said anything  _ever._ That was, until Tommy broke the silence. "Fliss you really need to know this."

 

Felicity sighed, and snapped her newspaper shut. "Oh my god, Merlyn, just spit it out."

 

Tommy gulped. Felicity hadn't exactly been in a good mood since her awkward I-got-poked-in-the-eye-by-Oliver-Queen incident. And her temper was something that most men could go their whole lifetimes without seeing. But it was best to rip the bandaid off. "Dad wants you to marry Ray Palmer."

 

If the demons of hell could be incarnated in that moment, they would be Felicity Smoak's eyes. "WHAT?! IS HE INSANE?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"

 

"I know, Fliss. I'm so sorry. I don't know what he's thinking."

 

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE'S THINKING?! WELL GOOD FOR YOU, THOMAS MERLYN."

 

Oliver Queen paused, his hand resting on the doorknob of the bathroom. He doubted Felicity knew he was in the apartment, and her wrath sounded like something he didn't want to get involved in. So he waited. He waited in the small bathroom for minutes. Half an hour. An hour. All the time it was just Felicity screaming at Tommy. Apparently her father, one of the biggest businessmen in the USA needed money. And what better way to do that, than to marry off his daughter to another one of the biggest businessmen in the USA. And Felicity was furious. Felicity and Ray had met before. And she absolutely  _despised_ him. Just as it seemed as if she was about to dramatically storm out, she furiously whispered "but first I need to go to the bathroom to wash the FILTH OFF MY HANDS THAT IS OUR FATHER."

 

Oliver froze. Suddenly the door flew open to reveal Felicity's shocked and incredibly angry face staring at Oliver's chest, which was about one inch away from her nose. _  
_

 

"TOMMY. WHAT IS YOUR FRIEND DOING IN OUR BATHROOM."

 

Tommy's eyes widened. "Oliver? I thought he had left."

 

"Well clearly he didn't. And if he heard ANYTHING that we said, then Oliver Queen is a dead, dead man. Are you? Are you a dead man, Oliver?"

 

Oliver nodded.

 

\---

 

Felicity Smoak circled the rim of her glass of wine with her finger. She had absolutely no idea how many glasses she had drank. She only knew that after a while they started to taste better and better, and the music at Verdant had started to get better, and the bartender had started to look better looking.  _Oliver_ had started to look better looking, if that was even possible. And he wasn't even at Verdant. She had just kept on thinking about him. About his eyes. And his lips. And how much she had wanted to kiss those lips. And how many muscles were on his chest. She shook her head.  _No. Get those thoughts out of your head_. _  
_

 

Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Oliver Queen. "Oh my  _god._ Are you stalking me or something? You're just  _everywhere._ Everywhere I go, you're there. It's like speak of the devil. Except I wasn't even speaking about you. I'm pretty sure I was thinking about you. Was I speaking? Barry, where did you go. Was I speaking?"

 

The bartender turned around from the drink he was making. "You were ... mumbling. A little."

 

Oliver sighed. "Felicity, I  _own_ Verdant."

 

Felicity's eyes widened. " _Oh._ I knew that."

 

Against his will, Oliver chuckled. Her glasses were slipping down her nose a little. and her slightly drunken state made her seem even more adorable than usual. "You should probably get out of here."

 

Felicity's arms circled around her glass of wine. "Nuh-uh. I like wine better than home. I like wine better than my Dad. I like wine better than  _Ray Palmer_. And I don't have to marry wine."

 

All of a sudden, two muscular arms lifted her out of her seat. "Oliver put me down!"

 

"Nope. I'm not leaving you alone here."

 

"It's  _your_ club. Don't you trust your own club?"

 

"My little sister traded drugs at this club."

 

"Oh."

 

A little while later, they were in Oliver's limo. Felicity was sitting as far away from Oliver as she could, her side pressed against the door, and her arms crossed. "I'm still mad at you."

 

"I know."

 

"Who are you to think you have control over me? Too many people have control over me.  _I_ barely have control over me. I mean, look at us! We  _kissed_! And I liked it!"

 

Oliver had gone completely tense.

 

"I shouldn't have liked it," Felicity continued. "I mean, I hate you! At least I think I do."

 

Throughout her speech, Felicity had somehow managed to move over to Oliver's side of the limo. In fact, if Oliver moved his face to the right, they would be close enough to kiss. Which was why it was to Felicity's great surprise that he turned his head to face her. She defiantly lifted her chin, her eyes desperate to meet his. Then she closed the gap between them.

 

The minute her lips reached his, Oliver crumbled. All throughout the night, he had kept on reminding himself that she was Tommy's sister. His little sister. The one that he had already kissed, on top of that. And he wouldn't do it again. Especially not if she was tipsy. But she radiated warmth, and something unexplainable. Something that made him think of home. Slowly, he turned his entire body to face hers, and gently cupped her face. He felt her breathing slow, as if some weight had been taken off her chest. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity. But their eternity ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS MY APOLOGY


End file.
